Hey everyone! I spent the day at E3 today and had an absolute blast picking up swag (shirts, beta codes, dog tags – lots of shiny!) and trying out new games. Of all the games I played this year on the show floor, I’m actually most excited about the long awaited release of Pikmin 3 (It’s been 10 years since the last Pikmin, and I’ll be posting my thoughts about the first look and initial gameplay soon).

I took tons of photos so that you can check out as much of E3 as possible right here on BSR. Enjoy!

Don’t forget to check out Zombietron’s excellent coverage of E3 by visiting our homepage.

BSR is wondering, what was your favorite E3 announcement this year?

Sleeping Dogs is Square Enix and United Front Games’ stab at getting into the GTA style action genre. It’s heavily and unabashedly influenced by Hong Kong films, especially blood opera—think John Woo thing—and feels like a love letter to fans of that genre. (more…)

The Nintendo conference this morning was not as heavy hitting as I had hoped. There were definitely some high points, but I wouldn’t call them the winner of the conferences. If I had to pick a favorite title shown, it would be ZombiU, especially after watching the full trailer at the Ubisoft booth. Utilizing the game pad to select inventory, aim your sniper rifle, and push away Zombies. ZombiU has the chance to deliver everything I require from an undead creation. Blood, smashing, and explosions.

Here is the trailer

Pikmin 3 also holds a special place in my heart, the abundantly cute ant-like monsters that help you collect your needs and smash through obstacles, looked great in HD.

Trailer:

Scribblenauts Unlimited lets you create your own worlds. What else do I need to say. Verbs, nouns, and now whatever item I decide I need, or that I steal from my friends.

Here is the developer interview:

Ubisoft treated us to a demo of the multi player experience from Assassin’s Creed III. The capture the territory style game play fit well with the stealth based combat. Players chose the character for their teams and were quickly run into a match. The game offers different sets of abiilities to aid in your defense of the territories. While defending your territory you can’t kill, you can only stun. So you can’t stay in the zone once you’ve stunned your opponent, you have to hit and run to avoid being killed.

Turns out my lack of natural gaming talent transferred to A.C. III, and with my teams complete annihilation I’m confident I’ll continue to lose when it launches.

E3 is here!!! This is like Christmas in June for those of us that follow video games. We’ve got at least three ‘bots on the scene and BSR! will be bringing some extensive coverage. As per usual with VGQH, I’ll link you to their stories for all the details, but you can get the basics right here. Starting with Sony’s press conference which I watched live last night on G4.

For me, the highlights were Beyond from Quantic Dream and the announcement of Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation for PS Vita. Seriously, anything from Quantic Dream and David Cage has my attention immediately. Also, I really enjoyed AC: Bloodlines on PSP. So a white Vita packaged with our first female (French-African) assassin probably just sold me on Sony’s new handheld in October. Which, by the way, will start supporting PSOne Classics this summer.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Click the link above and read Zombietron’s full report, I’m just handling highlighting:

• Jack Tretton loves “exclusive” – he also had the best suit of the night (it’s a weird thing I notice).
• PSOne Classics are coming to Vita, Tomb Raider and Final Fantasy VII were mentioned specifically.
• Call of Duty: Declassified was shown for Vita. Looks like Call of Duty, on a Vita. Yawn.
• Quantic Dream’s Beyond, starring Ellen Page looks fantastic, but how and what do you actually control?
• Actual PS All-Stars Battle Royale gameplay was shown. Looks chaotic. Nathan Drake (duh) and Big Daddy (huh) were announced.
• ACIII and Liberation were both discussed. Hardware bundles for PS3 and PS Vita, respectively. Captaining a ship as Connor looked boring.
• PS+ is getting some more love. inFamous 2, LBP2, and Saints’ Row 2 will be available today. For free it appears. Look for more awesome stuff for the service soon.
• Something about Far Cry 3. I went to make more margaritas.
• Wonderbook and some spell-casting Pottermore thing was shown for Move. Live demo controls were fail. Ha ha.
• God of War Ascension: Kratos kills things. Gore and combos. Sound familiar? March 2013.
• Gameplay of Naughty Dog’s Last of Us was shown. I literally turned my head and shuddered at the violence. Not the gore, the brutality. Zombietron has the video.

Microsoft’s press conference was a little too early for me to catch. G4 ran it again after Sony’s but by this point I was a little drunk and more than a little tired. Honestly, all I really gathered from it was that Halo 4 is still their only superstar. And something new in Gears of War (Judgment). Seriously, I was half falling asleep at this point. My recollections are completely unfair. I’m sure they showed a lot more that I would have found interesting if I could keep my eyes open. I’ve done a little digging and I can give you the basics that I missed but no details:

• Splinter Cell: Blacklist debuted.
• Forza Horizon coming in October.
• XBox Live: better Bing functionality, more languages, Nickelodeon, Paramount, Machinima, Univision, NBA, NHL, ESPN, XBox Music, Internet Explorer
• SmartGlass: some kind connectivity between TVs, tablets and other devices. Potential, but I need to to know more. Watch movies or play games
  on XBox with maps or play calling on your tablet.
• Tomb Raider gameplay
• Resident Evil 6 has timed exclusive DLC.
• Dance Central 3 (surprise).
• Black Ops II timed exclusive DLC (surprise).
• South Park: The Stick of Truth (March 5, 2013) timed exclusive DLC and Kinect functionality.
• New Games: Ascend: New Gods, Lococycle, and Matter
• Fable: The Journey is October 9, 2012.

Nintendo’s event is today. I’ll miss it but you can follow along with Zombietron’s live blog.

From here out it’s going to be a little helter skelter with things from pre-E3 and during in the most reasonable manner I can construct. I apologize in advance if it looks like lunacy.

Injustice: Gods Among Us brings NetherRealm back to the DC realm. Batman, The Flash, Harley Quinn, Solomon Grundy, Superman, Wonder Woman, and more will have their own, large-scale fighting game in 2013. Ed Boon shows some excitement, and you should expect to hear more about this throughout the week.

Two more games have been announced for Move that just scream hardware bundle. Sports Champions 2 and Dance Star Party are planned for later in 2012. We’re all still waiting for something else along the lines of Sorcery to convince us that our lollipop controllers were worth the purchase.

Naughty Bear had a good concept that didn’t really come off smooth. Kind of disappointing, but it looks like Behavior Interactive wants to give it another go, albeit on a smaller scale. Naughty Bear: Panic in Paradise will be coming to PSN and XBLA later this year.

We’re still awaiting confirmation on the Premium service that’s expected to be shown at E3, but it should also be mentioned that Battlefield 3 had a huge title update coming this week. The list of patches and tweaks is extensive so I’m not listing all of them. If it goes the way of most updates, just know that everything has been fixed except the one glitch you hate the most.

How big of a fanboy shill are you for Assassin’s Creed? Big enough to drop $100 on the Ubiwokshop Edition of Assassin’s Creed III? Yeah, me too. This version comes with a hardcover encyclopedia, and the 200+ page graphic novel about Subject 4. This novel combines the complete run of AC: The Fall and AC: The Chain from Daniel Cross and Nikolai Orelov. You can pre-order now, and you’ll want to do it before the Fourth of July. After that it goes up to $110. The game still launches on October 30, 2012.

SEGA also announced a collector’s edition for Aliens: Colonial Marines. This one comes with a resin figureine of a xenomorph fighting a powerloader, a USCM dossier, schematics for the USS Sephora, recruitment card, recon photo, USCM patches, graduation certificate and extra DLC – all in a special “xeno hive” box. The bonus DLC includes Cpl. Hicks, Sgt. Apone, Pvt. Hudson and Pvt. Drake; Ripley’s Flamethrower, extra Marine customization items, USCM Acadamy Firing Range level, Phase Plasma Rifle and Sonic Electronic Ball Breakers. Not a bad haul, though a price hasn’t been announced. Thos figurines are tricky. Sometimes they can produce them cheap enough for an $80 bundle, but they usually go for $100. Most of the DLC is also available as a GameStop preorder bonus. You should also expect it as paid DLC at a later date. The game releases on February 12, 2013.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 was announced prior to E3, but the details were sparse and we’re expecting more at the show. For now, know that you’re playing as Gabriel Belmont again, the Belmonts are seeking to finish Dracula for good, and this is the “shocking conclusion” to the Lords of Shadow arc.

Crystal Dynamics’ Tomb Raider reboot has finally been dated, March 5, 2013. This game looks a little better every time I see it. I’ve gone from completely bored with the concept to wondering how long it will take to reach March.

An Italian retailer had a Hitman HD Collection listed for a short time last week. This isn’t the first I’ve heard of this rumor, but it is still only rumor. With Hitman Absolution coming in November it probably makes sense to revisit Agent 47’s past sometime at the end of Summer.

The Lord of the Rings isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. With The Hobbit returning the characters to the big screen this holiday season and the Guardians of Middle Earth MOBA coinciding with it you probably think you’ve seen all of their current plans. Wrong. Isn’t this franchise ripe for Traveller’s Tales to brickitize it for LEGO The Lord of the Rings? Of course it is. And it’s further along than you might expect, as it’s set for release this Fall. That’ll be two LEGO games this year (including LEGO Batman 2). They also had at least three last year, Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter Years 5-7, and Star Wars III. Can they keep up this level of releases? Development should be fairly easy since you’re just skinning the engine and only need to focus on level design. But how many more franchises can they milk?

Game Informer has revealed the first game from Robotoki, Rob Bowling’s new studio. It’s zombies. That’s a good and a bad thing. Zombies are an easy sell, but they’re also getting a little tired. Human Element is going to have to bring something new to the table to really stand out. To listen to Bowling describe it, he’s got that covered. “Their greatest strength is the fear that [zombies] instill in us, the survivors, that unreasonable fear. Unreasonable fear that leads us to do unreasonable things to survive.” You’ll have three different classes from which to choose: Action, Intelligence, and Stealth. You’ll also choose your scenario: survive alone, with a partner, or with a child.“How you choose to start in the world will determine how you can engage and impacts the scenarios you will be presented with on a physical and morality level.” Excited? Too bad, you’re waiting until next-gen consoles in 2015.

Preorder bonuses for Bethesda’s Dishonored have been announced for the major retailers. GameStop has Arcane Assassin DLC and a deck of tarot cards; Best Buy will give you a whale oil USB lamp and Shadow Rat DLC; you’ll get the Backstreet Butcher pack from Amazon; Wal-Mart has the Acrobatic Killer pack; and Target will give you a decal for your smartphone. Good job Target. The game launches on October 9, 2012.

EA’s Press Conference Highlights – they need to work on their information security:

• Dead Space 3, February 2013. Drop-in/out co-op. Leaked info was right. Footage.
• Battlefield 3 Premium: Leaked info was right.
• Need for Speed: Most Wanted officially announced. This was leaked a while ago.
• EA now has the UFC license instead of THQ.
• Crysis 3: February 2013. Again, leaked ages ago.

Ubisoft’s Press Conference Highlights (also could use some leak protection):

• Spec-Ops: The Line getting free DLC.
• Announced Avengers: Battle for Earth. Spider-Man, Wolverine, Venom, Storm, Magneto. Fall 2012. Kinect functionality.
• Assassin’s Creed III footage. PS3 exclusive DLC
• Watch_Dogs: Techno-conspiracy thriller. Control electronics in the city for open world destruction. Total surprise. Want to hear more.
• Far Cry 3 trailer. Four-player co-op. PS3-exclusive DLC.
• Splinter Cell: Blacklist footage.

That’s all for now. Definitely keep a BSR! tab open all this week though. I’ll have highlights again on Friday, but for details as they happen, watch for Zombietron and company’s live coverage.

Wow, simply, wow. The game play is so brutal. I have watched this demo 3 times now and I can’t get over how gritty the combat really is. As expected the game looks beautiful, but the combat…oh man the combat. See for yourselves and speak up below!

First of all, guns? There are guns, not plasma cutters but guns? The drill sequence looked incredible, and the sound was terrifying. Truthfully though I wasn’t fully onboard until they were swallowed by the giant monster on the planet. What do you folks think?

To get the information listed early let’s remember that Sony has many exclusive partnerships. Their partnerships are exclusive, and did they mention that they’re exclusive?

The conference led off with a rousing video set of upcoming and current titles on the Playstation 3 and Vita. The folk at at Sony then began discussing the Vita and their dedication to the gamers. The Vita will be given Playstation One Classics, huzzah! It may be four months too late but at least it’s coming.

Next Quantic Dream entered to share the first look at Beyond. I hope you played Heavy Rain. If you didn’t there is still time to save your soul. The trailer describes the game more than I can. The faces are gorgeous, the rigging is absolutely insane, I can’t wait.

Next we were treated to Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale game play. Being one of the few that didn’t like Smash Brothers I’m not too excited. It was cool to see the announcement of Big Daddy and Nathan Drake, those ready for the game will have a great cast to choose from.

Assassin’s Creed III Liberation for the PS Vita was announced to my delight, yeah that’s right I have a game to buy for Vita now folks! Further more the cross compatibility with the PS3 is absolutely phenomenal looking, I’m disappointed to see the arm twist required to snag a skin and multi-player character, but it is what it is. I’m sure those of us unwilling to purchase both will be able to grab the DLC a few months down the road.

The game play for Assassin’s Creed III looked phenomenal, I can’t stress how incredible the games look. I believe Wrath.O.Tron put it best when describing the amount that the new hardware gap is pushing the engines is simply incredible.

Next up on the roster Far Cry 3 with 4 player Co-Op. It looked good, it sounded good, and the coop was really exciting. I’m not sure how pumped I am for Far Cry 3, but the coop would drive me to play it.

After Far Cry 3 we were given the honor of a 15 minute story book demo, including the Harry Potter Spell Book. The new Wonder Book looks ideal for children, and those people that want to read books on their tv…while sitting….on the floor… with their Playstation Move….Next to their cats……

After something family friendly it was finally time for a chain of violence, God of War Ascension showed us that Kratos is still okay with brutally slaughtering goat men, half elephant men things, and well, anything that stands in his way.

The coup de gras of Sony’s presentation was “The Last Of Us”, with what I will deem as one of the grittiest, and most hardcore game play demos I’ve seen in a long time. The brutal beating dished out by the main character and his female companion made me anxious to play. The villain gets choked out, not just a quick kill, it was a slow and visceral choke out. I’m not sure if I’ll be desensitized enough to handle it. I guess we’ll find out. Check back for gameplay footage as soon as we can get our hands on it, and we’ll see you all at Nintendo’s conference tomorrow.

Believe it or not E3 is finally upon us! Tomorrow begins the major press conferences and tuesday hails the beginning of the floor show! We here at BigShinyRobot have been prepping for our trip to Los Angeles all week and are locked and loaded to scurry around the trade show floor grabbing all the information you’ll need about the latest in gaming. Here is a tentative schedule for you at home and from today at 3 PM Pacific time on the info begins flooding.

Today (Sunday June 3rd) at 3 PM Pacific Time Nintendo will be unveiling information about the Wii U.

Monday

930 AM Pacific Time – Microsoft Press Conference : We’re sure to get more information on Halo 4, Call of Duty, Battlefield, changes to Xbox live maybe? A hint about their connection to Windows 8 with the Xbox, They’ve already said they won’t be announcing a new console this year, but I’d gladly be pegged a liar to see what Microsoft has up their sleeve.

1:00 PM Pacific Time- EA Press Conference:
Dead Space 3, Something about Battlefield, Madden, NCA, Fifa. Maybe they’ll give us some insight on what Crytek is working on?

3:00 PM Pacific Time- Ubisoft Press conference:
Assassins Creed III will be sure to be a heavy focus at this one. That’s all I’ve got… they’ll show us Assassin’s Creed, I’m an Ubisoft failure.

6:00 PM Pacific Time – Sony’s Press Conference:
I’m sure they’ll share information on the Vita and new directions they’ll be taking it. Hopefully we’ll get to see previews of “The Last of Us” by Naughty Dog and truthfully if Sony is dishing out love, I’m hoping to see a slew of Vita titles announced for this year. Fingers crossed.

Tuesday

9:00 AM Pacific Time – Nintendo’s Press conference:
We’re sure to hear about the success of the 3DS currently. They’ll talk about the New Pokemon, they’ll mention Pokemon Warlords or whatever that stupid looking game is called. They’ll definitely cover the Wii U, if we’re lucky we’ll get a price, date and launch titles. New Super Mario Bros 2 would be a great announcement. Sadly I don’t think we’ll hear about a Zelda title this year at all.

After the Nintendo conference it’s floor show for 3 days, we’ll be on the ground with cameras, microphones, and laptops covering everything we can get our hands on so please check back through out the days for your E3 news.

If you good folk of the internet have any specific requests comment them below and we’ll do everything we can to hunt down the information for you. What do you want to see? What are you hoping for with E3, the party begins tomorrow morning, see you all there!

Aiming for early 2013 the new Metal Gear is getting some coverage. The trailer looks awesome, really awesome to be exact. I don’t want to make huge snap judgements but I’m betting this will be a great piece from Kojima productions. We’ll have the extra scoop monday, enjoy the trailer!